Maine Day

Well, I saw the looks from all of my friends.  When I said that we were driving to Maine and I just had to stop at King Arthur Flour since it was on the way - I was very excited about this.  Most of my friends gave me that puzzled look or blank stare - why would that be exciting?  But I have to say to all of you who have been recipients of scones, bread, cookies, or cakes - King Arthur is my mainstay in the kitchen.  It is true that I pay premium price for flour "imported" from Vermont!  When you are baking, flour is important.  And, when you bake for a sister with celiac disease, gluten-free flour is really important.

The campus of the King Arthur Flour company was simply awesome.  We saw the big kitchen where you can watch the bakers making all of the baked products that are sold in the bakery/cafe.  We saw the demo kitchen where a baker was making tea scones (delicious!).  We shopped in the baker's store - a store just for me!  King Arthur recently expanded their campus to include all of these spaces and a wonderful classroom area where we saw people learning to make puff pastry (the big squares of solid butter were the giveaway).  I want to take a class or two, so I brought back the schedule.

King Arthur Flour has been in existence for more than 200 years!  Five generations of family owned the company and then sold it to the employees in 1996.  The company expanded the campus this year and plan a special grand opening later this month.  We loved our visit.

We left Norwich VT (on the border of VT and NH) and drove across New Hampshire with no problems.  Then, we chose to move from the major freeway (I-95) to the old road (U.S. 1).  Oh dear, that may not have been a good choice.  My friends I ask you: what do you get when you combine a detour with several roundabouts?  If you answered, "You get lost."  You are right!

We tried to follow the directions but they were confusing.  So we wound up driving several miles out of our way.  I learned something from this experience.  When you drive through places that you did not want to drive through, you learn what the world is like outside of the "tourist areas."  The tourist areas are filled with sparkling "come ons" from a wide variety of vendors.  They are filled with people who can afford the services.  But the outlying areas are filled with people who are trying to survive on low-wage jobs in an area where they can barely afford rent.  It was eye-opening.

We arrived in Old Orchard Beach in the late afternoon and checked into the bed and breakfast place that I found online.  It is the Old Orchard Beach Inn and was built in the mid-1700's.  It is walking distance to the beach and many restaurants.  The Inn is very charming and old-fashioned and is not very busy today.  So the person who checked us in offered to upgrade us to a larger room!  We are delighted.  After we settled into the room, we sat on the front porch and drank wine to let the on-the-road stress melt away.  We plan to walk down to the beach and get a bite to eat at one of the restaurants.  We are glad to be here in the middle of things and will stay for three nights.  We usually move every day, so this will be a change for us. There are many things to see and do and photograph.  Please stay tuned!

We completely recommend this charming B & B.